20
T O 0 0- PLACES
Thead,whichistheworkofa
superPACcalledAmericaFirstAction,
ismisleading.Bidenhas calledonly
fora banonnewfrackinglicenseson
publiclands,whichwouldhavelittle
effectinPennsylvania.Hiscampaignin
Augusttriedinvaintogetlocalstations
totaketheadofftheair.Bythenit had
alsobecomea Republicanlineofattack
onthelocalDemocratic representative,
ConorLamb.
Lamb,a photogenicex-Marineand
formerfederalprosecutor,ekedouta
narrowvictoryinPennsylvania’s17th
CongressionalDistrict,whichincludes
Ambridge,inthe 2018 midterms.Hisvic-
torygaveDemocratsa playbookforhow
towinbacktheblue-collarvotersthat
desertedthepartywhenHillaryClinton
wasontheballot,aswellashowtopeel
awaycommittedRepublicanvoters.
ThewinturnedLambintoa rising
star.Hewasoneof 17 youngDemocrats
featured in the party’s convention
keynoteinAugust.Italsomadehim
a Republican target.This yearhe’s
facinga stiffchallengefromanother
well-funded veteran, Sean Parnell,
a conservativeauthorofbookswith
namessuchasOutlawPlatoon. Parnell,
wholaunchedhiscandidacyonFox&
Friends, hasmadehisowninroadswith
adsmockinghisopponentasNancy
Pelosi’s“lamb”andbyusingthesame
Republicanfrackingattacksagainstthe
incumbentrepresentative as those run
againstBiden.
ToMikulich,thefactthatDemocrats
wereevenhavingtoplaydefenseon
frackingseemedmoreevidenceofpolit-
icalmalpractice.HewantedBidenand
Lambtoloudlyproclaimtheywereall
forthoselocalenergyjobs.“Theyneed
togetthemessageout,” he was telling a
visitor by August.Youwon’thearfolksinAmbridgeputit
thisway,butformuchofthe19thcen-
tury,theirtownwashometooneofthe
mostsuccessfulAmericanexperiments
inwhattodaywouldbecalledsocial-
ism.Foundedin 1824 byGeorgeRapp,
a Germanexilewhowastheleaderof
a ChristiansectcalledtheHarmonist
Society,thesettlementwasoriginally
namedÖkonomie—orEconomy.
Dedicatedtocommunallivingand
God, Rapp and his followers built a○ THE HOME OF A TRUMP LOYALIST○ ONE OF THE MANY VACANT STORES ON MERCHANT STREET○ DONNIE CARDONE, LEFT, AND MICHAEL HAAS OF ALTERED GENIUS